Published on: 01.03.2023 – 18:02
On Monday evening, January 2, the Kassela toll booth and the Markakongo Civil Guard post in the Koulikouro region were attacked. This dual attack has not been reported and authorities have not come forward at this time, but it is a reminder of the tightening noose around the Malian capital.
The town of Kassela is located at the gates of Bamako, around thirty kilometers from the Malian capital. This is where motorists arriving by land from Ségou pay their entrance fee to the capital. The Kassela toll gate was attacked on Monday evening at the same time as the Markakongo civil defense post, some 80 kilometers from Bamako in the Koulikouro region of the same name.
In both cases, witnesses speak of attackers who came on motorcycles. According to security forces and residents of those two towns, two people were killed in Kassela: the toll gate attendant and a water and forest officer whose camp is right next door, some of whom even tried to take revenge.
Two firefighters and three civilians were killed in Markakongo, the Ministry of Security and Civil Protection said on Tuesday. “On the night of January 2-3 (…) at around 9:00 p.m., the Markacoungo civil defense aid station on the Bamako-Ségou axis was attacked by unidentified armed persons,” the ministry said in a statement. and added that the toll was five dead, including two firefighters, and one injured.
Attacks closer and closer to the capital
These two attacks have not been alleged, but suspicions are directed at the Katiba Macina of Jnim, the Islam and Muslim support group affiliated with al-Qaeda. The Jnim had claimed thatSuicide attack on the Kati military camp, last July, in which a Malian soldier was killed. Camp Kati, about ten kilometers from Bamako, is the stronghold of the five colonels behind the August 2020 coup and now in power.
After the north and center, the jihadist threat is becoming more significant in southern Mali, with attacks increasing in the Koulikouro region in recent months and Bamako drawing ever closer. The Malian capital has not suffered an attack since 2016-2017 if we include the attack on a hotel near the outskirts of the Malian capital.